Ion exchange resins are widely used within the biotechnology industry for the large-scale separation or purification of various biomolecules such as proteins, enzymes, vaccines, DNA, and RNA. The vast majority of the ion exchange resins are based on either styrene/divinylbenzene copolymers or crosslinked agarose. The hydrophobic backbone of styrene/divinylbenzene copolymers can be prone to nonspecific interactions with a number of materials leading to impure products. Although crosslinked agarose resins are generally less susceptible to nonspecific interactions, these materials tend to be fairly soft gels and are usually unsuitable for purifications conducted within a chromatographic column using a high flow rate.
Although some known ion exchange resins are based on (meth)acrylic copolymers, many of these resins are gels or have a relatively low capacity.